Time to sing our praises
November 1st 2009 When we pitch ourselves against the rest of europe it’s not every day that the UK comes out on top. As most football fans will probably still be trying to forget no British teams even qualified for Euro 2008 and the bottom of the leader board is not unfamiliar territory for the UK in the Eurovision Song contest (yes that’s UK nil point).
But it may come as a surprise to the newspaper columnists, who seem to have unlimited time and column inches to devote to chastising the UK’s health and safety efforts, that there is good evidence to suggest that in this area the UK has a record to be envied.
Latest statistics from the HSE show a continuing downward trend in fatal accidents and injuries and in this month’s column from the HSE, Jane Willis suggests that the UK is now, arguably the safest place in Europe to work (see pg 10 ).
Additionally, a soon to be published survey from EU-OSHA the European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER), which was previewed at the Agency’s recent summit in Bilbao, shows that UK businesses are more likely to have in-house health and safety expertise than their European counterparts. Less than 10% of UK businesses contract out health and safety compared to up to 70% of businesses in other European countries.
It may also come as a surprise to many that even when it comes to levels of regulation the UK actually fairs better than most. Speaking at the Local Better Regulation Office’s November conference on the drive for better regulation (full story pg 12) , Ian Lucas Minister for business and regulatory reform, pointed out that a World Bank report has recognised the UK as the best place in Europe for ease of doing business.
So contrary to popular opinion our health and safety performance in the UK is something to be proud of. Of course every accident and injury is one too many and it never pays to get complacent but as we come to the end of what has been a challenging year for most businesses it is a good opportunity to stop and appreciate what we have achieved.
So the message of the new IOSH President Elect Steve Granger, that it is time the UK safety profession started to demonstrate its value (see pg 6), could be a good one to take heed of. While we may not have the best record for holding a tune in a European singing contest when it comes to health and safety it is high time we started singing our praises.
Georgina Bisby
Editor, Health & Safety Matters
gbisby@western-bp.co.uk More articles from HSM News Desk: | 
